Biocon, which owns nearly a fifth in the company thanks to a licensing agreement, is in line for an exit when Equillium lists on the Nasdaq Global Market.

Equillium, a US-based biotechnology developer backed by biopharmaceutical firm Biocon, filed for a $86.3m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market on Monday.

Founded in March 2017 as Attenuate Biopharmaceuticals, Equillium is focused on treatments for severe autoimmune, inflammatory and immuno-inflammatory conditions with a high unmet medical need.

The company’s first product candidate, EQ001 or itolizumab, is an antibody targeting a broad range of immuno-inflammatory diseases. Equillium licensed itolizumab from Biocon for commercialisation in the US and Canada…